The busiest rental season is quickly approaching, which means spring cleaning, softball leagues, daydreaming about college trips to Panama City Beach and touching base with your potential and current residents!  With MyMedia you can keep in touch year round.  Our ongoing updates and slick designs provide you with countless creative options to choose from so you can effortlessly send relevant communications customized to prospects or residents.  While, I could just list all our features, I’d rather give you an idea of how MyMedia plays an important role through the lifecycle of a resident.  So, without further ado, I’d like to introduce John Doe Properties…

(Depending on your taste, please read this next part in either the action-movie-preview-voiceover-guy voice or bedtime-stories-soothing-mom voice.) Read More

Two weeks ago we discussed Google’s algorithm change and how it could potentially affect your website’s traffic.  After having some time to review their web analytics and traffic reports, Larry Cotter, VP of Apartments.com and General Manager of Apartment Home Living (AHL), saw positive effects from the change!  I had the opportunity to chat with Larry about the jump in traffic AHL is seeing and asked if he would share his findings as a blog post.

Apartment Home Living, part of the Apartments.com family of websites, has reaped the benefits of Google’s algorithm change.  The modification was made to promote original content that resonates with real life people, not just computers, which is why AHL fared so well. Read More

We have recently come across several conversations online about the value of an Internet Listing Service (ILS), like Apartments.com.  While trying to decide the best way to approach this question, I thought of a popular saying; “you never really know what you had until it’s gone.”  So, that made me think, what would a world be like without ILS’s…?

Let’s say that, for whatever reason, tomorrow all ILSs ceased to exist and no longer appeared in Google’s search results.  Consumers using “long-tail” search terms – i.e. “two bedroom apartments in Chicago” – would probably do alright, because they’d at least get back property websites or Google Place listings for communities in Chicago, even if the quality of the experience varies widely from there.  Consumers using more general terms, like “apartments for rent” (there are about 2.25 million of those per month on Google) would have a harder time, having to go through several individual property management company sites to find a handful of listings that might suit their needs.  It would be frustrating and arduous experience, and only the management companies with the very largest national footprint would have any success in that world. Read More

Top of the mornin’ to ya!  With St. Patrick’s Day right around the corner, this is a great time to create a fun atmosphere in your apartment community and engage with your residents.  As they say, everyone’s Irish on St. Paddy’s Day, so here are some ideas for activities, surprises, and Facebook posts that you can use this year in your community:

• Get a bunch of chocolate gold coins to make your own pot o’ gold in the lobby.  You can also put some in everyone’s mailbox…residents might feel better opening their gas bill if it comes with candy!
• Every good Irishman knows that if you catch a leprechaun he gives you his pot of gold!  Pick a famous landmark in your city to “hide a leprechaun.”  For the week leading up to St. Paddy’s day, post clues for where he is hidden and the first resident to guess correctly wins a prize.  Make sure to mix up where the clues are posted; on the front door, on your Facebook wall, in the fitness center, on your website, etc.
• Research information on local parades and bars that are having themed specials.  Post everything in one location to help residents decide what their plans are for the festivities.  If you have time and it’s in the budget, you could even get green beads for them to wear out.
• A popular event around this time is a corned beef and cabbage dinner.  Use your party room to have dinner catered for your residents and advertise it as an opportunity to meet their neighbors.  If attendance is going to be high, contact a local Irish Step Dancing school and ask for them to send some dancers over as entertainment.  Most schools charge for events, but if you offer the opportunity for the dancers to ask for donations in support of their trip to a competition, they will usually do it for free.
• Post a different Irish history question on the outside of each mailbox and tape the answer on the inside.  This may encourage interaction between residents, but it will for sure help with trivia night that week!

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This post was originally written by Ken Shafer, past SEO Manager for Apartments.com.

Following their announcement about social search, Google rolled-out an update to their algorithm aimed at cleaning out some of the clutter in their search results:

“Many of the changes we make are so subtle that very few people notice them. But in the last day or so we launched a pretty big algorithmic improvement to our ranking—a change that noticeably impacts 11.8% of our queries—and we wanted to let people know what’s going on. This update is designed to reduce rankings for low-quality sites—sites which are low-value add for users, copy content from other websites or sites that are just not very useful. At the same time, it will provide better rankings for high-quality sites—sites with original content and information such as research, in-depth reports, thoughtful analysis and so on.” Read More

This post was originally written by Ken Shafer, past SEO Manager for Apartments.com.

Still doubting the importance of social media signals in search results? After Google’s latest announcement you should probably reconsider. Their statement saying “But relevance isn’t just about pages—it’s also about relationships” is a wake-up call to all site owners that it’s time to pull our collective heads out of the sand and get to work cultivating a social network and encouraging interactions with your content.

The nuts and bolts Read More

As a part of its national What Renters Want series, each year Apartments.com conducts its popular Moving Outlook survey, and the results for 2011 are in! Over 1,800 of our website visitors responded, giving us a look into their 2011 moving plans including reasons they are moving, when they plan to move and which tools they value most during their apartment search. Some of our key findings are outlined below, but please take a look at our full results and press release for more detailed information.

• The number one reason respondents said they are moving is to relocate for job opportunities
• Nearly 25% of respondents are starting their apartment search as early as five months to more than a year out from their moving date
• 64% of respondents said the most important thing during their apartment search is the ability to check real time availability
• 80.9% of respondents use an Internet Listing Service, like Apartments.com, for their apartment search, with only 5% of respondents using social sites
• 80% of respondents are using a mobile device during their search

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It shouldn’t come as a surprise that, according to credit agency Experian, the lowest credit scores belong to those 18 to 29 years of age. In fact, a recent National Multi Housing Council (NMHC) survey found this age demographic also happens to account for the largest segment of renters in the United States.  In the past, renting an apartment had little to no effect on a person’s credit score, but thanks to Experian’s recent acquisition of RentBureau, you can help residents increase their credit scores by reporting timely rent payments!

“Experian is now incorporating rental-payment history data from its recently acquired RentBureau unit into its traditional credit file, which it says will make it easier for college students, recent graduates and immigrants to boost their credit scores — if they pay their rent on time”, as reported by The Chicago Tribune blog. How can you use this information to help your residents? Be sure to report their payments properly so they can get credit for paying their rent. Not only will this boost their personal scores, but it will also encourage your residents to get their rent in on time! This is what I call a win-win situation. Read More

Check out this video clip of The Ellen DeGeneres Show to see how Apartments.com is lending a helping hand to a local Thousand Oaks, CA family in need.

In this heartwarming segment, the Munoz family shares their story of a personal, family tragedy, which has left them struggling to make ends meet. The family said it is their dream to get back on their feet and have a place of their own. Honored to have this opportunity to help make their dreams come true, Apartments.com gifted the Munoz family with $15,000 toward free rent for a year. Read More

It’s been nine months since we started experimenting with giving renters the ability to chat live with Apartments.com platinum listing customers, and four months since we launched it fully, and it’s proven to be a great next step in advancing the rental industry!  As of February 1, we have over 1,200 properties signed up to receive Live Chat, and continuing to grow at a very rapid pace every week.

In January 2011, for those properties actively using Live Chat (online with Chat for at least 30% of renter visits to their listing), we recorded an average of 17% increase in conversations with renters.  Those online less than 30% of renter visits only saw an average of 5% increase in conversations with renters, but obviously the more you’re online to chat, the more renters are going to be chatting with you! Read More